Art exhibition at Moscow's Manege working as normal following attack by radical Orthodox activists

Moscow, August 17, Interfax - The organizers of an art exhibition at the Manege exhibition hall in Moscow, which was ransacked by radical Orthodox activists on Friday evening, have filed a report on the incident with police and expect the damage to be evaluated.

"We filed a report yesterday. The damage caused is so far unknown. Police have seized four linocuts that were damaged, and we are waiting for an expert to evaluate the damage," Yelena Karneyeva, a spokesperson for the Manege association, told Interfax on Saturday.

The exhibition is working as normal now, she said.

The Interior Ministry department for Moscow told Interfax on Saturday that police had opened an inquiry into the incident.

Interfax had reported earlier that several activists led by Dmitry Tsorionov (Enteo), the leader of the Orthodox movement God's Will, had disrupted an exhibition called 'Sculptures We Don't See' at Manege on Friday evening. The attackers damaged several artworks, claiming that the exhibits insulted the feelings of true believers.

Tsorionov says all activists who were involved in an attack on exhibition have been freed from police. "We hope the exhibition will be closed, and those responsible will be dismissed," Tsorionov said on Twitter.

Tsorionov said his associates and he had not damaged a single sculpture in Manege. "The matter is only about a plate and some pieces of linoleum," he said.

"Our action is a cry, because no one hears us; the state doesn't protect what is holy to us today, and only some high-profile act can change something," Tsorionov said.

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